The Jamestown Settlement is founded in modern-day Virginia and is under the effect of the Statute of Artificers from the English Parliament. This statute had revised hundreds of years’ worth of laws regarding indentured servitude.

The Virginia Company of London issues its Great Charter, which establishes the General Assembly to govern the new colonies.

The General Assembly passes the Laws Concerning Indentured Servants. And the first black Africans were brought to Virginia. With no slave laws in place, they were initially treated as indentured servants, and given the same opportunities for “freedom dues” as white indentured servants.

During this time, 75,000 people immigrate to the Chesapeake Bay colonies, 50,000 of whom are indentured servants. The large majority of these newcomers are men.

Slave laws begin to be passed. Any small freedoms that had existed for black servants were taken by force. The black population were no longer indentured servants, they were slaves.

The General Assembly passes laws regulating the time served by servants without indentures, requiring servants to carry certificates, prohibiting masters from hiring servants without proper papers, and punishing servants who become pregnant.

The General Assembly passes laws requiring "suffitient" diet and clothing for servants making their transatlantic voyage, prohibiting "cruel" treatment once they arrive in Virginia

During this time, instances of indentured servants being mistreated and cheated out of their contracts grew exponentially.

By this year, enslaved Africans and African Americans account for nearly all of Virginia’s bound workforce. Slaves account for only 25 to 40 percent of the non-elites' workforce.

The Revolutionary War begins and ends. The country is now free from British rule, but servants are still bound.

Indentured servitude has almost entirely disappeared and has been replaced with traditional slavery. Although this did encourage employers to hire more wage workers

The 13th Amendment is passed and officially abolishes slavery in America

Indentured servitude is abolished in America.